


New Force Order

by Retribution4189



Series: New Force Order Trilogy [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Jedi, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Pre-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26472253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Retribution4189/pseuds/Retribution4189
Summary: A short month before the Battle of Exegol, a mysterious order of Force Sensitive's plots against the tyrannical First Order, and is a large pain in their side. The leader of the New Force Order, T'rien, is of Sith and Human Descent, and she plans on exterminating the evil in the galaxy, bit by bit. Whatever it takes.
Series: New Force Order Trilogy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924477
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. I

35ABY  
Outer Rim   
Rseik Sector: Vestar - Port-Esta

T’rien sat down on the cold, compacted, dirt ground of an alley. She knew that she was on Vestar. Vestar used to be ruled by the Imperials during the time of the Galactic Empire. The Imperials had long since left and Vestar was a good place to escape to. It was under the radar and most of the humans who lived on Vestar were trying to escape from the actions of the dominant power, specifically, the First Order. She was also trying to escape, but her reasons were very different.

She was of two species: Sith, and Human. This made her a big target from the First Order and from many others. Her abilities came from being Force Sensitive. This meant that she could manipulate the Force and use it as she might use a tool for her own needs. Force Sensitive beings, after the fall of the New Republic, had become even more scarce in the galaxy. The First Order had been trying to kill her now for a while because she had infiltrated one of their Resurgent-class star destroyers and planted detonators on the engine. She had blown up the whole Resurgent-class Star Destroyer and because of that, The First Order had put a very large bounty on her head. The Mandos were after her because they wanted the bounty money.

Vestar used to be a very quiet planet and many people did not know of it. T’rien had chosen to hide there because she had thought she would be safe. Before Vestar, she had been on Utapau, before Utapau she had been on Askaj, and before Askaj she had been on Eriadu. She had been forced to leave those planets because of First Order sympathizers. The sympathizers had reported back to First Order operatives and the operatives had chased her everywhere. It would only be a matter of time before she’d be forced to leave Vestar. The only reason she had survived this long was because every time she sensed a threat, she flew her Delta-7 starfighter to another planet. T’rien had found the Delta-7 on Coruscant before it had been destroyed. She had named the starfighter Nomad, after the resurgent-class star destroyer she had blown up. She might have also named her ship that because the only thing she remembered about her father had been his callsign, Nomadium. Unlike her father, she remembered her mother clearly. She remembered her mother’s piercing yellow eyes, her jet black hair, her cheek tentacles and she remembered her embrace. Her warm, heart melting embrace. T’rien missed it. Her and her mother had been very close. T’ryett had been her mother’s name. Her mother had not been the kindest person. After all, she had been trained to feed off her anger. T’rien had been taught the same. Before her mother had given herself over to the New Republic, she had given T’rien her curved crimson lightsaber.

T’rien rested her hand on the lightsaber, feeling the darkness radiating from it. All the memories flooded into her head. All those years spent training and learning how to use the Force. That had been a waste of time. The Force had brought her nothing but trouble. The Force had put her on the run. It was the reason her father had left her and her mother. It was the reason she had run away from Dromund Kaas in the first place. The Force had used to mean everything to her. Now every time she used it she was reminded of the things that had ever happened to her. All the horrible and painful things that had happened to her. She had been cast out of the Academy on Dromund Kaas because of her inability to focus on just the dark aspects of The Force. She had always been intrigued by the light aspects. Her compassion and kindness towards the other students had been her downfall.

It had not been long since she had been cast out of the academy. It had been maybe six months. After her shameful exile, she had set out to other planets, looking for Force Sensitives. The reason she was in search of Force Sensitive beings was because she was attempting to form her own order. She hadn’t found many people that were sensitive to The Force. The people she had found had willingly joined her cause. The whole of the order was here on Vestar with her. The rest was split between Utapau and Eriadu. The total number of members in her order was about 72 humans and about 10 others. On Eriadu, she had recruited only 7 people. Those seven people were now a part of the order’s High Council. The order was known as the New Force Order. She had based her council after the Dark Council Of The Sith. Their ship arsenal was not large. It had The Nomad, three Fury-class Interceptors, seven stolen TIE fighters, a stolen X-wing starfighter, a scavenged BTL-B Y-wing and The Dogfighter which was an Imperial-class TIE Interceptor. They also had a corvette that they used to transport the operatives of the New Force Order. They stored their ships at the old Imperial operations base. They had pretty much taken over Port-Esta just as the Galactic Empire had. They had a few other minor bases on Utapau. There was also a communications center on Askaj.

Recently, T’rien had received some news that one of their bases on Utapau had been destroyed. She had lost ten standard operatives, two officers, and one high ranked operative. At least that was what she thought. There had been three survivors and the rest had been assumed dead. The attack had most likely been caused by the First Order. T’rien was lucky that anybody had survived the assault. She knew it was The First Order because they were the only organizations that would have been able to make it through the base’s rock hard defenses. The star destroyer she had blown had been accompanied by three others. The Eviscerator, The Calamity, and worst of all, The Reaver. The Reaver was all her fears confirmed, one of the strongest ships in The First Order’s fleet which had the strongest shields, ion defenses and had the ability to destroy a death star. It was equipped with a device similar to the super lazer used on Starkiller Base. Unlike Starkiller Base, it had no exhaust points to launch ion cannons at or to place detonators on. And just to make her luck worse, it was chasing the order.

T’rien stood up and walk out onto the bustling streets of Port-Esta. She began to make her way to the base of operations. While she was walked, she happened to bump into a blue eyed Rodian. He took one look at T’rien and started running. T’rien was momentarily confused. She had not recognized the Rodian but maybe he had known her. T’rien silently swore. She began to chase after the Rodian. 

T’rien followed the Rodian into a bar. She looked around and scowled. It looked to be like a Smuggler’s bar, where scum usually thrived. She saw the Rodian. He was a about four standard meters ahead of her. He had not seemed to notice her and looked worried. T’rien stormed towards the Rodian, grabbing his shoulder. The Rodian whirled around and squealed in fear. He quickly drew a blaster and aimed at her.

Suddenly, the bar patrons all whirled on her and drew their weapons. T’rien moved her hand to her lightsaber hilt slowly, but clearly. The patrons looked surprised and a few of them holstered their blasters and left. T’rien spit on the ground, “What do you want?”

The Rodian regarded her with mock interest and replied, “I am Fovius, Captain of the Clovis.”

T’rien rolled her eyes, “I meant, why did you run when you saw me?”  
Fovius studied T’rien’s facial expression for a moment, “You wear the robes of a Sith. The Sith took everything from me. I desire revenge.” Fovius responded, he clipped his words with a scowl.

“I assure you, I am no Sith.”

“Then why do you don their garb?”

T’rien’s scowl grew, “I don’t. I bear a different insignia.” T’rien lifted her hand and showed Fovius the insignia ring she bore. Two crossed lines with four small circles was the symbol in the center of the ring. T’rien looked down pridefully at her ring that bore the insignia of her Order.

“What insignia is that? I have never seen that before..” Said Fovius, intrigued by the symbol on the ring.

“It is the insignia of the New Force Order.”

Fovius lowered his blaster and gestured for the others to do the same. “The New Force Order? I apologize, I did not realize you were one of them. You are neutral freedom fighters, yes? You fight the First Order, the Resistance, and The Sith?”

“Yes, the Order’s you listed, among others.” Replied T’rien

“I have a message to prevay to your leader, can you please deliver it to them? It’s regarding the High Angel’s accords.”

T’rien regarded him for a moment, containing a laugh.

Fovius scowled at her, “What is funny?” he asked

“It’s funny because I’m the leader.”

Fovius stepped back, “You are? Well then,” He chuckled, “I guess I’ll deliver my message to you then..I would like to make an alliance with your order. We have common goals in mind, taking down the First Order being one of them. You cannot be everywhere on this planet at once and trust me when I tell you that people have been watching you. There are some who do not like what you are doing, opposing some of the most major powers? That’s brave. Perhaps even foolish. Many view your order as a beacon of hope for this galaxy, you give them what the Resistance cannot. I hope that you’ll allow the High Angel’s to form a partnership with you and with the New Force Order.”

T’rien took a step back, “I’m sorry..this is a very generous offer but-”  
Fovius interrupted, “Stop. you may have some time to think my offer over and discuss it with your council. You can contact me whenever you like using this.” Fovius pulled a comm from within his jacket and handed it to T’rien.

“I hope to hear from you soon.” and with those final words, Fovius turned around and went back out the way he had come in.

A few hours later, T’rien had called a meeting with her council to discuss Fovius’ proposal. Six out of seven of them had arrived and T’rien was becoming antsy and impatient waiting for Daran, one of the council members, and his Apprentice, Skirin. Daran wasn’t usually tardy and T’rien was becoming suspicious. Daran had recently been appointed with Skirin and he had become unusually awkward. He had applied for an apprentice and if he was having second thoughts, it was not her fault.

T’rien looked towards the brass doors and listened as they creaked open. Through them stepped Daran and his apprentice, Skirin. Skirin was wearing cream coloured robes and his shoulder was being clasped by Daran. Daran frowned and scowled as he walked into the chambers. Skirin looked slightly worried. As he should be, thought T’rien, after all, this is his first time at a council meeting. Daran wore his traditional jedi master robes; a cream robe with a brown cape billowing from his neck. He had his hood pulled over his head, showing nothing but his frown. Daran walked to his seat and sat in it. Skirin folded his legs and sat beside his master. T’rien stretched her arms out on her throne, relaxed now that everyone was there.

“I bet you’re all wondering why I have called a council meeting today,” said T’rien, tapping her right hand fingers on her throne anxiously, “here is the reason; today, I received a proposition from the leader of the High Angel’s group, which I presume most of you are familiar with. They want to form a partnership with us. Should we accept their offer and form a partnership? Or should we refuse them? They gave us this,” T’rien raises the comm so the assembled council members can view it, “to contact their leader, Fovius.”

“All in favour of accepting their offer, raise thy hand!” said Daran

Four council member’s hands, out of the seven, rise into the air. Daran looked down at his apprentice and smacked his hand down. T’rien suppressed a smile. 

“Apprentices cannot vote.” Said Alamar, a Quarren council member. 

Skirin frowned and rubbed his hand, obviously in pain. Daran furiously whispered a few words to his apprentice. Skirin looked down at his feet, ashamed of his actions. 

“Then it is passed. When will we be commencing, Empress?” asked Amia, another human council member.

T’rien scowled when Amia called her Empress as it was a title that everyone knew she hated to be called by. 

“We will commence using the communicator on the morrow. For now though, we have other things to discuss. Is there any other information or problem that any of you would like to bring to my attention?” T’rien looked around the council chambers at the member’s, and finally, her gaze rested on Daran, whose frown was etched even deeper into his face.   
Daran stood up and opened his mouth to speak, “I have a matter to discuss with the council.” He looked around at the other council members and a few of their apprentices. “Without our apprentices.”

T’rien nodded her assent. “Very well.” She gestures to the few apprentices gathered in the chambers with the council and they stood up to leave. After they had gone, Daran sat back down on his platinum seat just like the other council members. 

T’rien gestured at him, “What is it that you would like to bring to our attention?” 

“I have had a few things on my mind recently,” said Daran, “it has occured to me how weak we are compared to the forces of the First Order. The Resistance isn't much of a threat to us, as, at this stage, they’d be lucky if they could even muster up a cargo freighter. We must continue to build our fleet of ships and perhaps, we will even have to look into adding new non-force powered beings into our ranks. As is, we are vulnerable to attack. We all know what happened on Eriadu was a terrible tragedy and it hurts me to say it, but it will almost indefinitely happen again. We must focus on building our own forces or else we may end up like the Resistance; a shambled remnant of what once was. We must find a way to thwart The First Order, for we are next on their hit list.”

“And how do you propose we do this?” asked Amia, curious. 

“I believe we should stop expanding from planet to planet and settle down. We know the weapons they have and we can defend against them. We are force users, we can stand against them.”

Amia was about to speak out and say what the rest of them were thinking but T’rien raised her hand in her direction so that she would know not to say anything. T’rien eyes narrowed at Daran. He was blunt and had obviously not thought through his plan, perhaps his judgement was clouded, but she would have to correct him. 

“Daran,” said T’rien, staring him down, “the First Order has the ability to wipe out entire planets. We are not strong enough to stand against them alone. You obviously didn’t think of that. We all remember Starkiller Base and the horrors it performed on Coruscant. Would you really want that to happen to our Order? To everything we’ve worked for? I think not. No, the time to strike is not now. We should still build up our numbers more before making any more big moves. We have to gather allies and spread our hold wider. There is much conflict with all the factions in the galaxy, and are we to make ourselves more known, we might find people with similar goals to ourselves. 

“However,” continued T’rien, pausing to take a breath, “should an opportunity arise where we can actually take on the First Order with superior numbers, in a group, for example, then we should seize that opportunity. At this point though I don’t really see who we would ally with that is able to help us fully oppose the First Order and its allies. No factions are really big enough that would be willing to aid us. It would be a mistake at this point to fully go up against them with our little number of members and Allies. That is why I believe it might be best for us to ally ourselves with the High Angel’s group run by Fovius. If my sources are correct, he should be able to greatly increase our naval battle. Currently, as you all know, we do not have that many ships at our disposal. We have a corvette plus fourteen fighters including the Nomad and the Dogfighter. That is enough to transport our operatives and such but it isn’t enough to do any serious damage.” T’rien ended at that.

“But Empress!” exclaimed Amia, “Didn’t we destroy an entire Star Destroyer?” The other council members nodded at that, obviously considering it as they made their final decisions on what would happen with the fleet and their allies. 

T’rien thought this over. She and she alone had destroyed the star destroyer, not any of the actual Order. She had been trying to extract information about the First Order’s movement from the star destroyer’s database. All in all it had been a successful mission. She had been able to download a lot of their data, and they were able to stay away from them with the info. After that she had started to form the Order, and since then they had found many more mission files and extracted even more of the First Order’s data. She had operatives deep in the First Order’s rank. T’rien was the only one who even knew their names, the others only knew them by face. 

“I destroyed that Star destroyer because I saw an opportunity while I was getting information. I did all of that without the Order because I was one single fighter, so tiny that the cloaking device I installed in the Nomad. It’s a much different matter to cloak an entire fleet of ships. It would be near impossible to destroy one now unless we risked our agents lives, which I’m not really willing to do. Our best course of action would be to, of course, ground assault them, because we could actually win in that situation. Or we trick them into tractor beaming our corvette into one of them. Still very risky though as they could just blow us up as soon as they got the chance. The safest option remains as coordinating a large-scale assault with other factions. That’s why I don’t think we should keep Fovius waiting any longer. Amia, if you would please give him a call. Place it on the center table.” 

Amia fulfilled her orders and sat down as a blue holograph flared to life in front of them. Fovius turned all the way around and looked at each of them in turn until his gaze was on her. His Rodian face broke into a smile. 

“Lady T’rien! I was waiting for your call. I must assume this means that you are ready for a partnership perhaps? Or maybe you just want to show me to your Council? Either or I’m very glad you gave me a call. I suppose I’ll have to propose this partnership to the rest of the council?” T’rien nodded at him and his happy demeanor turned into a businesslike one as he straightened himself and folded his hands behind his back formally. 

“The High Angel’s group was formed at the time of the fall of the New Republic. We started off small, recruiting smugglers and bounty hunters until we were eventually recruiting ex-New Republic military personal. Now we are made up of about four-hundred personall all-in-all. Those are only your ground forces though, and we have a fairly sizable navy. Our navy has thirty First Order age TIE fighters, five corvette’s, fifteen First Order TIE interceptors, two Delta-7’s, and eight refurbished BTL-B Y-wings. It is nowhere near as large as the First Order’s arsenal but together we’d make a pretty formidable force. Of course we’d also have to create even more alliances with other factions though to raise our numbers. Very few of my troops are Force Sensitive but I’d also like the ones that are to be trained in the ways of the Force. We also have a great deal of extra weaponry, including lightsabers, for the New Force Order to use. We believe we could mutually benefit from an alliance. We’d also provide you with as much information on the First Order that we have. Please do consider our offer.” Fovius ended it with a smile and he fizzed out of the holograph.

“That sounds promising.” remarked Amia, looking to T’rien for her verdict.

T’rien nodded, “Yes it does.” 

“Maybe a little too promising.” commented Nia as she raised her head to speak for the first time from the other side of the table. T’rien was shocked. Nia usually never spoke. She was a very quiet person. Her black robes concealed everything but her face as her dark eyes glittered at the rest of the council. 

“You’re right, Nia. We should proceed with caution for they might have other motives.” Said T’rien, truly agreeing with her for she was right.

“As far as allies go though, this is a pretty good deal. We’d get a larger navy, much weaponry, and we’d get lightsabers. Many of our troops have no lightsabers and use blasters. Actually, one of our operatives prefers a blaster because what he does is he will shoot with a blaster then he will guide the blaster fire using the Force to hit wherever he wants it to. He never misses and his precision is unrivaled.” Said Vartil, a Sullustian council member. He handled the training of most of the troops as he was very skilled in duellign and other forms of combat and acrobatics. 

“Lightsabers are very elegant, but deadly, items. You have to think of them as an extension of yourself and they are fairly useful in many situations. Some Force Sensitives used them to deflect blaster fire or as an intimidation tactic. Some would even just use it as a light source when they are in darkness. It would be troubling to see them being used by somebody who had no clue as to how to fully utilize it.” Vartil added that and then sat back on his seat. 

T’rien was surprised. So many of the council members that barely spoke at the meetings were now speaking and putting in their own inputs on the situation. That just meant that these decisions were getting much more serious and that the members were getting more comfortable with each other. They were becoming more and more organized by the day, and that was something to be glad for.

“I say we take it for a vote.” Said Daran, speaking out for the first time since T’rien had turned down his proposal. “All in favour of passing the motion and gaining a new ally, raise thy hand.” 

The vote was unanimous. “Now that that is cleared up, let’s call Fovius and let him know the good news.” Said T’rien, gesturing to Amia who fiddled with the holo projector for a second before turning it on. 

It was answered almost immediately and Fovius fizzed into existence in front of them. “Does this mean we have a deal?” asked Fovius, looking to T’rien. At her nod he smiled. “We’ll send over some of our troops right now with the weaponry and information, as promised. We don’t have any need for the lightsabers anyways so it isn’t too much of a loss. Our troops can’t use them very well. I look forward to working with you all again in the future.” With those words, Fovius fizzled out.

T’rien sat back on her chair, contemplating on what might go wrong and on what might go well, her mind swirling with ideas as she was lost in thought.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to delve into the life of an enemy on the side of the First Order, opposed to the New Force order and everything they stand for.

35ABY  
Cell Block of the Eviscerator  
Space above Eriadu

EV-9743 was horrified by what was happening, but there was nothing she could do to stop it, she couldn’t even look away from it for she would risk getting punished later on. She watched dreadfully as the Captain of the Eviscerator pressed a button on the keyboard of the console and caused a large bolt of electricity to shock the prisoner where he stood. EV-9743 wished that it could stop and that the man would just give in, but there was nothing she could do to stop the Captain. He would continue to torture the man who was supposedly part of the terrorist cell known as the “New Force Order” until he revealed their positions. She had to give it to the man though, for he was holding out and hadn’t opened his mouth since he had been captured, not even to shout, scream or grunt. She shut her eyes as the Captain sent another shockwave of electricity running through the man's body. 

“Tell me what they are planning and I will give you time to rest..” Said the Captain alluringly, striding over to the man and stroking his hair as if he were a small child who had done something to anger his parents. At the man’s silence once more the Captain snarled at him, spittle flying from his mouth onto the prisoner’s face. He was tied against the wall so there was nothing the man could do to stop the spittle from hitting him. 

“Fine,” He spat, looking the man in the eyes, “you’ll be a perfect candidate for the psychological reeducation experiment. I’ve been told you won’t even know who you are once it’s done.” 

The prisoner showed no expression, even in the face of a powerful Captain. EV-9743 winced though. The psychological reeducation experiment was a fate worse than death. It involved pushing the person to their mental limit, whether it be by scaring them, by punishing them and training them as one might treat a pet, or embarrassing them into submission. She had seen prisoner’s go in there and come out looking like a whole new person. The prisoners were literally remade, their entire body frame and mental state, their physical state and their will, even their gender identity. That experiment was meant completely to crush your mind until there was nothing left and remodel you. You’d see the old prisoners after the experiment coming back and being enlisted in the stormtrooper corps, completely unrecognizable and loyal to the First Order. It was a scary thing and she hoped she would never have to go through it, as it made her sick to even watch the process of it. She was able to see so much of the transformation process because her and her hand-picked squadron were called to guard it quite a bit. She found all these things that some of the officers in the First Order did horrifying. Then again though, she would never even begin to imagine leaving it. For all the bad in the First Order, there was also a lot of good. They were peacekeepers on a great deal of planets and enforcers of the law. 

EV-9743 was a stormtrooper Major, thus she received special permissions and things of the like. It wasn’t necessarily a luxurious life, but it paid well enough and she enjoyed having the company of companions instead of being out in the galaxy alone. She found it interesting how many of these so-called terrorists were just misguided people, straying from the correct path of law and order to the path of darkness and chaos. It was troubling to think of these things, yet she often couldn't help herself. 

The Captain suddenly turned to her, “EV-9743, order a few of your troopers to go and bring this terrorist to the experiment Cell-Block. I’d like to have a word with you alone.”

EV-9743 nodded in assent and turned to her troopers. She pointed at EK-4591 and EF-6391. “You heard the Captain. You two go and drag the terrorist to the experiment cell block and hand him off to Captain BN-3965.” Both of them saluted and she returned it as they grabbed the terrorist and dragged him away. She then gestured for the rest of her squadron to leave and she turned back to the Captain.

“What is it you wanted to speak to me about, sir?” Asked EV-9743, formally addressing him as ‘sir’ even though she was technically a higher rank. It was just a simple thing, but it had been trained into her since birth to call the officers, “sir,” so it was really second nature. It just happened on instinct. 

“I wanted to ask what you think about these,” he scowled as he said this, “terrorist scum.” He ended that sentence by staring her down, giving her a look that told her it was a test. 

EV-9743 responded readily, as she was always ready to be tested. “Sir, I believe that they are the misguided beings of the galaxy, and if we can guide them onto the correct path, then I believe they can become valuable assets to our cause.”

He regarded her for a second, perhaps pondering over her answer, then he nodded good-naturedly. His face broke into a smile suddenly, “Would you like something to eat after your shift, Major EV-9743?” EV-9743 couldn’t really believe it then. Was he seriously asking her out while they were on duty, and right after she had watched him torture somebody? Hell no, she thought, this isn’t going to happen. 

“No sir,” she said, “I’m fine.”

“Come on, Major. At least let me know what you look like under that helmet..” he trailed off and began to reach his right hand towards her helmet. Obviously, she wasn’t going to let him do whatever he wanted, even if it was only taking off her helmet. She was a Major, and was technically higher than him in ranking, so it was time to show him who was in charge here. 

She grabbed his arm where his vain met his wrist and squeezed it tightly, cutting off circulation into his hand and she relished in his shocked expression as his hand began to take on a purple-blue hue. She then clutched his other hand from where it lay at his side and slammed the man hard onto the ground, hearing a rib or two break in the process. She released him from her iron-hard grip and he doubled over instantly, rubbing his ribs while holding his other hand, which was starting to fill with blood again, to his chest protectively. 

He fell back and glared at EV, obviously taking his time to look her over. He obviously hadn’t expected her to do that and was contemplating on what to do now. He could try to strike her back, of course, but that would most likely result in him getting hurt further, and it would pretty much be a suicidal act for him to attack her. Were he to attempt to assault her, she was fully able to kill him where he stood, as she was the superior officer.

He dragged himself into a sort-of drunken upright position and stood to look at EV. She held her back straight and stared right back at him, challenging him to step down and submit to her superiority. He knew that what he did was wrong and she would wait however long she had to to receive an apology. 

He regarded her for a second, knowing she would not back down. He slightly bowed his head in apology, “I apologize for my insolence, major, sir. It was my own fault that I put myself into this situation. Please allow me to take my leave now that I am not required.” EV smirked under his mask and gave him a slight nod so he would know that he was free to leave. He raised his arm and gave EV a quick salute, still respectful, but in a slightly sarcastic manner. He then walked out of the circular chambers and into the open hallway, likely towards the officer quarters or towards the bridge, even though he didn’t have much of a command. After a few seconds she followed suit and the door slid shut behind her, closing silently. It was there that she found two of her personal squad waiting for her, but they were honestly more like her friends than her proteges. EK-4591 and EF-6391 exchanged glances with each other and she could tell that they were smirking at each other beneath the helmets.

EK-4591 saw EV coming out of the chambers and smirked at her from beneath her helmet. “You really messed up the Captain, Major. We saw him as we came back from the experiment chambers and he was limping down the hallway with a bloody nose and was clutching his chest dramatically. What did he do that caused him to get so beat up? Did a certain major we know do something to that poor man’s pride?” joked EK playfully, nudging EF-6391.

EV shook her head fondly, “He tried to ask me out after he tortured somebody. I just gave him my answer by almost cutting off his hand and breaking a few ribs.”

Her troopers didn’t say anything, both of them most likely shocked. That Was, of course, until EF started chuckling until he was rolling on the floor laughing. EK pretty much followed suit except she was giggling, then falling on top of EF and laughing instead of going on the floor.

“Come on, you two, it isn’t that funny!” She exclaimed, even though she too was holding back rolls of giggles and laughs. Of course she couldn’t tell them that! She had to admit though that she felt great doing it, and she wasn’t worried about him reporting her or anything, because he had broken protocol before her. 

EK and EF both stumbled up, both of the still laughing. “You should go and see if he went to the medbay! Maybe he’s crying about his broken ribs right this instant!” Said EF, which ensued even more laughter from EK.

“I wish I could,” Said EV, “but we’re still on duty for a little while. We’re supposed to go check with Captain BN-3965 to see the state of the prisoners, as per usual. Do you two know where they put the new prisoner today?” 

The hallway took on an eerie air as EK and EF both stopped laughing and turned to face EV. They were on duty after all, and they should act like it. “I believe they put him in a jumpsuit and cell already. The Captain was very grim when we handed off the prisoner, but we all are. I don’t think any one of us enjoys watching those experiments that they do. They’re truly horrifying at times. I never stick around to watch them if I can avoid it, and I think the Captain feels the same way. I’d hate to have his job, having to see all those people broken and remolded.” Said EK, stating her opinions plainly.

EV nodded at her and so did EF. EV knew those feelings well, having to actually see the prisoners every single time they were brought in. “We should start heading over there and then our shift will be done once we patrol that area. After that we can go grab something to eat in the dining area. It’s a little bit troubling to eat right after going to the cell block, but I’d say we’ll all be sort of famished as we’ve been on duty for almost an entire shift. Anyways let’s start heading down there now.” 

The three stormtroopers walked down the hallway of the cell block and EV led them on the way to the experimentation area. They walked in a quiet silence and they stepped in sync with each other, boots echoing down throughout the hallway. 

Eventually they arrived at the front of the experimentation chambers, and they all waved and exchanged greetings with the guards at the door. They didn't even question EV’s credibility as her armor was painted Platinum with a gold trim, and was distinct compared to the white armor and black exo-suit of a regular stormtrooper. 

Captain BN stood to greet them as they entered the experimentation chambers, which was essentially a large, rectangular room with cells and eerie glowing white walls. It was light behind glass, really, and isn't necessarily a “wall.” 

He reached out a hand to EV and they shook hands, a certain strength and understanding in their closed fist. EV knew that the captain hated where he was, but would never say it aloud in public. Unlike her, he had a family to feed back home, and this was how he earned his credits. He basically looked like a regular stormtrooper except for a few distinct markings that told others he was a captain. His right arm and legs armor had a pair of Red stripes riding up the side and converging in the center of his back. His left side had the same thing except in a light blue that mixed with the red in the center. His helmet was also mostly standard except for a detachable scope for the visor of the helmet that he used when in battle situations. 

“It’s good to see you, Evie..” he leaned in to whisper into her ear where only she could hear it. 

“You too, Ben.” She said, softly whispering back. Her and the captain had a sort of mutual friendship with each other. While most of those on board the Eviscerator, other than her squadron, were mere acquaintances and didn’t have much significance to them, Ben did. He had grown up with her on a small farm world in the outer rim, and she had left for the stormtrooper corps a few years before he had, wanting to leap right into military life. He regarded her a second longer than pulled back from the handshake, pulling himself into a straight-backed position. He snapped his legs together and his right hand to his chest, then into the air. 

EV knew she would have to ask for a report now, and she dreaded having to learn about the state of the terrorist that had been sent to undergo the experimentation process. 

“Stand and deliver a report on daily affairs, Captain BN-3965.” said EV, saying it professionally as she did every day that she was on duty with her squadron.

BN put his hands to his side and stood straight, looking straight ahead as well. “Yes, sir!” he said, then proceeding to give her a report. “...So overall, the prisoner has become well acquainted with his surroundings. But we did find something curious when running a Force Sensitivity test on him..” he trailed off but EV narrowed her eyes, “What is it? What happened with the test?” she questioned.

“Well sir,” he said nervously, “He is indeed a Force Sensitive. He tested positive. Since we have no procedure for a Force Sensitive being, we just followed standard procedure and put him in a regular cell. We also put one of the prototype Force Sensitivity nullification collars on him, so as long as he has it on, we shouldn’t worry about him breaking out of his cell. I also am going to report this to the high command, but I was waiting for your verdict on this matter.” 

EV shook her head, what the hell was this coming to? A Force Sensitive? Those nullifier collars were prototypes for a reason. They weren’t guaranteed to work on the prisoner anyways, and this could likely become a hard situation to deal with. Depending on how skilled the prisoner was in the Force, she wouldn’t be surprised if he could break free easily from his restraints and from his cell. In her entire career, she had only met a single Force Sensitive being, and that was before Starkiller obliterated Coruscant. It had been a simple mission back then, and they hadn’t even been on the ground fighting them. It was supposed to be an easy operation as they were flying in TIE fighters while the man was simply on the ground, This had been back when she and her former squad were gunning at him. Only two people survived the battle to kill the Force Sensitive and that was her and her pilot. All others in three other TIEs had been killed by the Force Sensitive with his abilities. A single man had taken out six individuals who weren’t even on the ground. It was after that mission that she became a Major, just as she had been ever since then.

“Shit..” muttered EV, ripping off her helmet in one quick movement. BN, EF, EK, and the other stormtroopers all looked at their superior in surprise and one by one each of them took of their own, except for the ones at the guard positions, who simply turned back around, understanding the situation. Every person that was even remotely close to her in the corps knew her tale, of how she gunned down a Force Sensitive that had killed her own friends. They all understand the feelings that she must’ve felt at that point and they all stayed silent for a moment. EV looked up at her three friends, three people she had known in the corps since basic training. BN’s face was rough and calloused, with a short military cut hairstyle. His black hair was thick with sweat and his eyes showed a weariness only a stormtrooper could understand. EK smiled sadly at her, knowing what she was feeling. Her auburn hair was rolled into a bun, glistening with shiny little drops of sweat as her blue eyes were half open, obviously lost in her own mind. EF’s sleek black hair was full of sweat and his face was cleanly shaven. He had bright green eyes that shone with compassion as he looked her over.

It was then that EV knew what she wanted to do, “I want to talk to this prisoner, and I want to speak my mind.”


	3. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a closer look at the relationship between the New Force Order and the High Angel's.

35ABY  
Outer rim  
Rseik Sector: Vestar - Port-Esta outskirts, High Angel’s headquarters

T’rien regarded Fovius, tilting her head to the side curiously, “You want us to do what?” she asked.

“I’d like you to allow us to train your troops with blasters while you train ours with lightsabers,” responded Fovius calmly, “I believe it would help for our forces to know more than one way to fight as you never know what situations we might get into.”

She thought about this for a second and nodded, it made sense. “We can definitely teach your troops how to use a lightsaber, just it may be more difficult for them to become really skilled with it as they aren’t Force Sensitive. I’ll have Daran, Vartil and Nia train both forces together. Do you have any bases off of Vestar, Fovius?” she asked again, first complying with his request then asking for one of her own.

He looked at her, searching for ill-intent most likely. He complied though and answered her question, “Yes we have multiple bases and operatives spread out across the galaxy. Our main base off of this planet is on Rakata Prime, and we have another minor one on Ryloth. We have a main base on Rakata Prime because it’s so obscure that The First Order can hardly bother with it. Good for a hideout in a time of need.” 

T’rien nodded, looking around the High Angel’s headquarters here on Vestar. It was well made and had walls built up around it. It had a large spaceport that had more than enough room to fit both of their combined fleets and there was a large sprawling building to the left of the headquarters building. 

T’rien and Fovius looked over to the training area across the base where there were fits of laughter. They looked at each other before the pair of them began walking towards the source of laughter. When the two of them arrived, they found one man shooting blaster shots at one of her troops, a Force Sensitive, named Adin, and she glared at him as he used the Force to juggle the blaster shots around in an amusing fashion. She continued to glare at him until eventually he looked over in her direction. His eyes widened and he instantly sent the blaster bolts away. The bystanders watching the two men all stopped laughing and they turned to look at T’rien and Fovius, who was shaking his head at them. Adin ran up to her and kneeled in front of her, his head bowed down. 

“Empress, please forgive me! I had no idea you were watching!” He exclaimed, kneeling even further. 

“Get up,” commanded T’rien, who watched as Adin lifted himself up into an upwards position. She pointed to the target’s not far away, “We aren’t here to have fun. This is serious business. Instead of juggling those blaster shots, I want you,” she pointed at Fovius’ troop who was also looking down, “to continue shooting the shots, and I want you,” she pointed back to Adin, “to control the blaster fire and send it at the target. Start with controlling and aiming one at the target first, then add another one to have you controlling two at once.”

T’rien then gestured to all of those present and addressed them, “All of you should practice this. Pair up with a partner, one Force Sensitive, and the other with a blaster. Do this until until we leave. Dismissed.” She turned back around as they all stumbled to begin practicing, and she looked at Fovius, who had a dumbfounded expression on his face. 

“You’re an… Empress?” He said carefully, looking her over with respect.

“You could say that I am, but for most of them it’s become a habit. Many of them are used to addressing their leader as either master, emperor, or empress, and once one person started calling me that, they all did. You shouldn’t think too much of it. Now where is your battlemaster or trainer? I’d like to introduce him to our battlemasters, the ones that train our troops and all.” asked T’rien plainy, daring him to challenge her authoritative air.

Fovius looked at her a moment longer and then said, “I’ll show you right to him. Can you call your battlemasters to the training course inside? It’s the building to the left of the main building,” 

T’rien nodded before pulling out a holographic communicator. She pressed a button and Nia fizzled to life in front of her. “What do you need, Empress?” she asked, nodding her head as a small show of respect. 

“Can you, Vartil, and Daran come to the large building beside the headquarters please? We’re going to introduce you three to your High Angel’s counterpart.”

Nia nodded before fizzling out. “Alright let’s start heading over there. Don’t want them getting to the training facility before we do.” Said T’rien, walking towards the building. Fovius followed closely on her left side.

The pair made their way there and the metallic alloy doors slid open to allow them entry, as it’s program was motion-activated. They stepped inside and heard the door slide shut behind them. T’rien wasn’t really surprised to find that a number of her own troops were sparring with each other and High Angel’s troops were sparring with each other as well. She spotted some of the troops that she had seen at the bar that day, about a week ago. Fovius smiled at her, his Rodian mouth stretching out. 

“You recognize some of my troops, don’t you?” said Fovius, smiling knowingly at her. She nodded in response and continued to gaze around the room. 

Her eyes flicked over each of the people there, noticing what they looked like and what weapons they prefered to use. Her red skin seemed to stand out as some of the High Angel’s stopped to look at her. Maybe it was her skin, or maybe it was her attire, but she really had no idea. One man in particular stood out to her. He was wearing painted Clone Wars era armor, and was instructing a group of troopers in the use of blaster and some of the techniques related to them.

“Who is that?” asked T’rien, turning to Fovius, “and why are they wearing clone armor? After all, it’s impossible for a generic clone to have lived this long.” 

Fovius followed where her gaze had lingered. “That, Empress, is the man whom we have come here to meet. He is our battlemaster, Odeali. He is the son of a clone trooper from an age long past. I’m surprised you even recognized his armor; most never do.” Fovius then gestured for Odeali to come to where they stood. The battlemaster told those he was instructing something before walking over to T’rien and Fovius. He smiled at Fovius before looking at T’rien. His eyes studied her for a moment too long before they landed on the ring she bore on her right hand.

He looked up at her, “You’re her aren’t you?” he asked quietly, eying her lightsaber as well as her black robes.

“Her?” T’rien asked coldly, not over fond of this man so far. 

Obeali cleared his throat and glanced around skittishly, “You’re her. The Empress, master of the New Force Order. It was said you destroyed a star destroyer. Good. Those bloody bastards don’t deserve to live and breath the same air we do.

T’rien was surprised. She hadn’t necessarily expected his response, and it was even more fascinating how he spoke of the First Order. He had the air and authority of a person who had been through hell and back with the First Order and whatever they did to him, well it must’ve been bad. 

He held out a gloved hand and she grasped his hand. “I’m Obeali,” he said, “good to meet you, Empress T’rien.”

“Good to meet you as well,” she said, shaking his hand before letting her own hand drop back to her side.

It was at that moment that Nia and Daran walked in, withe Vartil at the head of them. T’rien turned to look at them once before turning back to Fovius and Obeali. 

“These are my battlemasters. This is Nia, Daran, and Vartil.” T’rien stopped to look at Obeali, nodding to him. “This man here is Fovius’ battlemaster, Obeali. He’s well trained and is the son of a clone trooper.”

She found that vartil and Daran were both looking at Obeali, and Obeali was staring at them with a shocked expression. “Y-you’re Jedi!” he exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face. It was obvious he adored the Jedi as he didn’t pay Nia and her black robes any attention at all. It was amusing really and Nia was smirking at him from the shadows of her hood. 

Nia turned to face T’rien and Fovius while Obeali, V artil, and Daran began talking with each other in low tones. “Will we be helping to train these troops today, Empress? I could begin by taking them through some drills with Forms I and II immediately, if you’d like. I could also inform them about the standard lightsaber forms as I doubt many of them know anything about the lightsaber. Vartil and Daran should be able to actually train them in combat with the lightsabers. I’d much rather prefer to teach instead of show off skills combatively.” 

T’rien had to admit she was a little baffled as Nia never really spoke all that much. She wasn’t sure what had changed in the last week or so but it looked as if it was for the better. Nia seemed to be really taking more of an interest in her teaching and training of the troops they commanded. This sense of responsibility was a good thing to have.

T’rien nodded at her, “You may begin instructing them as soon as you wish, Nia. I have no problem with any of your requests and I was just about to suggest something very similar to that.

They all spent the next three hours or so instructing the assembled troops in the way of the lightsaber. Both Daran and vartil were demonstrating the stances and poses for each of the forms to the troops while Nia explained the fundamentals of each form. Lecturing the troops. T’rien was surprised that they all listened quietly, and it was wonderful to see that the New Force Order troops and the High Angel’ troops were getting along well. Eventually Nia finished and then she asked if they had any questions. 

Many of the troops raised their hands, and she pointed at one of them. “Which of you is the strongest?” He asked, curious and grinning at the lot of them. 

It took only a second, but as soon as those words were said, both Vartil and Nia said her name to be the strongest out of them for while Daran said his own. Both Nia and Vartil looked at Daran as if he was crazy as he was nowhere near the strength of T’rien, even though he was much older. T’rien favored the Juyo form, the hardest and most effective form against almost any of the others. She was also a skilled duelist, having actually been trained by a Sith Master, instead of Daran who had been trained simply by his father who had been a Jedi, which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t really good either.

The room got quiet and they began looking back and forth Daran and T’rien. They want a show, realized T’rien. She looked Daran in the eyes and gave a slight nod. They were going to spar in front of the troops, whether it be mock battling or real. They, of course, didn’t want to hurt each other so they’d have to avoid serious injury points. It would most likely be a duel until one could no longer fight, meaning that they had been disarmed. T’rien and Daran both stood to face each other and they both walked to a more open area, a crowd moving out of the way to make room for them, then coming back in to form a circle around them. T’rien and Daran stoof about five meters apart, and the air was heavy with anticipation. Daran drew his lightsaber, the light blue hue shooting to life. T’rien unclipped her own from her belt and flicked it on, the crimson black saber rising in all its glory. They each bowed to each other before raising their sabers into their form stance. T’rien stood with her legs apart, one slightly ahead of the other with her right hand clutching her lightsaber to her left side. T’rien’s left hand was positioned back in almost a relaxed fashion. She had no need for her left hand in her starting form.

Nia stepped forward, seeing as they were both ready to begin their duel. “I want a clean fight from both of you, got it? The fighting will end once either the Empress or Daran is disarmed by the other.” She paused before beginning a ten-second countdown. As soon as she hit one, T’rien and Daran launched themselves forward, each ready to spar with the other.

They flicked their sabers back and forth quicker than a regular mind could even comprehend and they continued to batter each other, throwing themselves forwards again and again. T’rien leaped around in great jumps, flipping through the air around Daran, hitting him both while in mid-air and while she was on the ground. In return for this, he would roll away then return the strike she had just delivered to his lightsaber. The sounds of the saber beams hitting each other echoed throughout the room as more and more began to gather around to watch them fight. Seeing how long this was already taking, T’rien decided it would be best to end it soon, but Daran had a look of determination in his eyes that told her he wasn’t going to quit until he had lost. T’rien smirked at him before launching into yet another fury of blows, striking low, high, and everything in-between. He hadn’t been prepared for such a quick set of blows as T’rien had just delivered and Daran just barely managed to block against them. He tried to return a blow but T’rien quickly flicked her wrist and his would-be blow was cut short and his saber was brought to the ground. It began to burn into the ground as she held it there.

“Yield now, Daran.” She said forcefully, “Before your arm gets lopped off by your own weapon. He looked up at her with a scowl before leaning over and patting his hand on the ground twice, signalling that he was yielding. T’rien stepped back and unignited the two lightsabers, putting hers back on her belt and handing Daran back his as he stood up as well. The training arena erupted into cheers as Nia smiled at T’rien from where the battlemasters stood. T’rien grinned in response and both her and Daran walked back and sat down where the battlemasters were. 

“Does that answer your question?” she asked politely, eyes boring into the person who had asked them who was stronger. They bowed their head and stepped back into the crowd, obviously embarrassed. Fovius looked somewhat dumbstruck from where he was and he seemed surprised at T’rien. Perhaps he was only now beginning to see how strong she really was.serves him right, thought T’rien, he must’ve underestimated my strength. 

When T’rien looked in Daran’s direction, he seemed to be pouting. T’rien had known from the beginning that she would win, but she had still decided to put on a bit of a show instead of just ending it right in the beginning of the duel. It was at that moment that Obeali stepped forwards. 

“Perhaps now we should practice some techniques with both blasters and lightsabers? We obviously don’t have enough lightsabers for all of you but I’m sure we can purchase some vibroblades from a weaponsmith next time we go to a major planet so that there are enough for all of us. I’m pretty sure that we should have enough credits as we know some weaponsmith’s that sell these sorts of melee weapons for very cheap prices. Can your battlemasters train our troops how to use vibroblades as well or is that something that isn’t within their capabilities?” Asked Obeali, eyes now directed at T’rien. Of course they could, vibroblades were just a simpler version of lightsabers, just without the entire kyber crystal. It was because of this that she nodded. The techniques they used would be almost the exact same anyways. 

“Alright then. If you’re Force Sensitive and have a lightsaber or need a lightsaber, please go with Daran and Vartil who can train you in both defensive and offensive maneuvers. If you are Force Sensitive without a lightsaber or have a blaster, as I assume many of you do, pair up with each other and begin using the Force to deflect the blaster fire your partner will shoot at you onto one of the nearby targets. Try not to hit any of your comrades in this exercise please.“

With Obeali’s words, all of the battlemaster took their groups and began to train each of the troops together. Obeali and Nia’s unit paired up with each other and began to run through the drills that Obeali had suggested. Daran and Vartil began to show their unit how to utilize lightsabers and run them through a few exercises. T’rien turned away from then and towards Fovius who walked towards her so that they could converse with each other. 

“You were amazing in that duel with your battlemaster, Empress.” Said Fovius, eyes glittering with good-nature.

“Thank you, Fovius. I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed a little surprised when I defeated Daran. May I ask why?” Responded T’rien, a slight smile of her own gracing her lips.

Fovius seemed surprised but managed to recover before looking at her sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Empress, but I think it was your evident youth that confused me in the first place. I thought that someone else had to be running your Order behind the scenes and that you were just a figurehead. I didn’t realize how skilled you were, as you are barely an adult.Another thing that was peculier that I noticed about you was your red skin. While this may be a bit discriminatory, your clothes and your skin instantly told me that you were a Sith, or at least of Sith descent. That was troubling for me as I know that the Sith species is.. uncommon these days. But after that duel you had, I quickly realized that while you physically look like a youth, your level of skill does not reflect that at all. I was truly a bit awed after seeing you take down your battlemaster so easily, and I could tell you were holding back against him, perhaps trying not to injure his pride too much. I suppose I do owe you an apology, T’rien. Thank you for allying with us and I hope our relationship as both friends and colleagues can heighten in the future.” With that, Fovius held out his hand to her, a grin on his Rodian features. T’rien took his hand and together the two of them shook hands, sealing a bond of friendship.


	4. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EV interrogates the prisoner and learns some vital information.

35ABY  
Middle rim  
Cell Block of the Eviscerator - Space above Eriadu

EV grabbed the tray of food, careful not to spill any of the soup and dry foods that were arrayed on it. This was the standard meal for a prisoner going through reeducation, which is to say they almost ate as well as the stormtroopers. She was going to be delivering the prisoner they had brought in two days ago for his first meal, as they wanted him slightly starved before they began to put him through. When she had requested a meeting with the prisoner she was told that she would have to give him his food and that she should try to get information out of him as well. She had a pretty good plan as to how to fish some information out of him. She was planning on only giving him the food only after he gave her some information. She knew, from experience, that the threat of starvation was a good threat and an efficient one. 

EV quickly stepped forwards to the front of his cell, and Ben nodded at her, his armor clean and shiny. The other guard, whom EV knew as TN-7937, also gave her a slight wave of recognition before stepping aside to allow her entry into the cell. EV’s blaster felt heavy in it’s holster as she carried the tray through the arch and into the cell. She heard the slight noise of the doors sliding shut behind her. She wasn’t surprised at all to find a brightly shining room where everything was white. The walls, the cot, the toilet, the table; everything. She had seen this before, of course, as this was the standard room for somebody entering reeducation. The bright white was meant to force the prisoner to be more submissive and to get used to bright things. It was meant as a sort of embarrassment tactic because you could see everything that was not white. For example, you could easily identify the man who sat at the edge of his cot in a bright pink jumpsuit. He stood out to the rest of the room like a Togruta among humans. He was easily identifiable and his back was turned to her.

EV cleared her throat and the man slowly turned and looked up at her. His eyes were sunken and his hair was a mess. He looked weak and frail, and his hair was oily. He had stubble all around his face and his eyes weren’t even looking at her, only at the food tray in her hands. 

“What is your name, prisoner?” asked EV, her voice plain and flat, the commanding tone obvious by her word choice. The man didn’t even flinch when she referred to him as a prisoner and his eyes remained fixed on the tray. He began to reach for it but she pulled it back before he could grab anything on it. A small whimper arose from the man, his chest rising slowly as his breath stilled. He just sat there, staring at the tray in EV’s hands, watching it with a primal glare. This man had been starved for a few days and had most likely already been broken. I hate seeing them like this, thought EV grimly, resisting the urge to just hand the man the tray. 

“What is your name, prisoner?” She repeated, staring him straight in the eyes now with a cold gaze. If he did not comply, she of course had ways of forcing him to. It was troubling to think that she could do something such as use force to get the man to do something, as it wasn’t her favorite thing to do. It just slightly went against her own moral code. Just slightly. 

The man stared back at her and he opened his mouth slightly. “C...Connall,” said the man, voice barely heard at all, likely due to his lack of water. 

EV was sort of startled that he had given up his name so quickly. But then again, he did really want and need both water and food, so it was understandable. Her goal was to get as much information as possible from him before he was “remodelled” so that was what she would do. Also, EV was generally curious about the order the man came from, the “New Force Order”, her superiors called it. Frankly, while it was a rather large thorn in the First Order’s side, it wasn’t too much of a big deal, but they were equal, if not more powerful than the Resistance, which made them a priority target. What was more troubling was that they knew hardly anything about the leader, with the exception of a name; T’rien. In addition to that, they had no spies in their enemy’s order because they had no idea how the recruitment system worked. It was almost as if they were phantoms behind the scenes, operating and doing their own business while no one else saw.

EV looked back at Connall. Perhaps it was indeed time to give him, at the very least, water. But food, well food was unnecessary at the moment and she could use it as a reward for vital information. She balanced the tray on a single hand before using the other to grab the glass of water off of it. Connall watched with eager eyes as she gently lifted it off the tray and, when he held his hands out, placed it in them. She patiently waited as he lifted it to his mouth, giving her one last look, before touching the cup to his lips and drinking it’s contents fully, his eyes closing blissfully. 

Once Connall was finished, the glass fully drained, he gently set it back down on the tray and leaned back on his heels while rubbing his neck with one of his hands. “Thank… you, Bucket..” rasped Connall, voice dry and throat likely still being quenched by the water, considering he likely hadn’t talked for some time. 

“Bucket?” questioned EV, her head slightly tilted to the side.

“Yeah… Bucket,” said the man, trying to force a smile onto his lips, “that’s what we call people like you; stormtroopers.” 

“So you’re trying to insult me then, or just insult my helmet?” retorted EV, glaring at him from beneath her helmet. 

“Little bit of both, Bucket. I won’t stop until you show me your face, Bucket.” The man was smirking, his words oozing with arrogance. 

EV scowled but nonetheless she reached up and lifted off her helmet, allowing for her neatly cut hair to be seen. Her light blue eyes were narrowed at him as she watched his reaction. Connall, simply put, was grinning at her and he seemed to be watching her eyes, mouth slightly opened in it’s grinning position. He seemed to be a little shocked that she had taken off her helmet so easily and quickly. 

“Do you have a name?” Asked Connall

“EV-9743 is my name. It’s been my name since I joined the corps.” replied EV, betraying no emotion on her face. 

Connall seemed to pause for a moment to think, and when he looked back at EV, she noticed that he looked slightly fearful. “You’re the Forcekiller, aren’t you?” 

EV snorted and laughed, “Where in the hell did that nickname come from?” she asked, shaking her head whilst chuckling. 

“They say that you killed a Jedi. You’re quite famous among some of the people I know, but not in a good way.” Said Connall, eyes having turned cold and hard. 

EV narrowed her eyes back at him, “What are you talking about?”

Connall’s face suddenly contorted in rage, “That Jedi you killed, he was one of my friends. I knew him personally. We grew up together on Coruscant…” She could see now the tears that were forming at the edge of his eyes as he looked down at his feet. 

It would take more than that to faze her though because he wasn’t the only one who had lost something. “Yes and I lost my entire family to him. I had to watch as his lightsaber stuck down every single one of them.” She responded coldly to his previous statement, knowing exactly how he felt with his anger. 

The rage that was in his eyes evaporated then and was replaced by an understanding face. They were the same really, both harboring lingering hate after what happened before her promotion. They were on opposite sides of the spectrum, so the chances of them settling down peacefully with each other, especially with the coming of the reeducation process for Connall. It didn’t matter though, she wasn’t here to start a relationship but was here to gather intel. 

“Listen..” started EV, thinking of the best way to ask him, “are all your friends Force Sensitive, like you, Connall?” 

“Ye-No, no they’re not.” Replied Connall, brow furrowing as he realized what he had said, but EV had heard what she really needed to, and that was a good thing. She had caught him lax and she had exploited that to ask a question that would most likely tarnish any relationship forming or that could form between them. 

“Please be truthful Connall, it won’t help you to lie to me. Who is the leader of your organization and are they affiliated with anybody?” 

Connall seemed surprised by the questions but he seemed to be resigned to the fact that lying to her wouldn’t help, so she had to assume that he would answer truthfully. “We’re led by a high council which is made up by the first few members of the entire Order. As far as I know, they aren’t affiliated with anybody or any group, but that information is weeks old so it could be inaccurate. I was stationed at the base you destroyed. Could you tell me if there were any other survivors?”

EV nodded her head slightly, “Two others survived but were taken to other ships in the fleet, not ours. You were only brought here because you were the leader of that base.” It was a bluff to say he was the leader, but she hoped he might nod or do something of the sort to confirm it. 

Connall nodded, confirming her bluff and making it reality. “And what can you tell me about the individual known as T’rien? Are they affiliated with you?” His widening eyes told her everything. He indeed knew this T’rien, whether it be on a personal level or an abstract one, she was sure he knew. 

“N-no,” he responded, “never heard of her.” Not once had EV mentioned T’rien being a her, thus he had just proved all of her suspicions by making one simple mistake in wording.

EV sighed and set the tray with the soup on it down. “I’ve heard all I need to. Goodbye, Connall.”

“Wait!” called out Connall just as EV was about to step out of the room, “What will happen to me?” 

She refrained from turning around to face him and instead also whispered a few words, “A fate worse than death..” 

EV then proceeded to step out of the room, listening as the opening closed behind her.

“I really need a break..” muttered EV as she walked down the hallway and out of the cell block, heading towards the cafeteria area. She was going to get a drink, and nothing was going to stop her. It was a few minutes before she reached the cafeteria and she could hear it from down the hall, so there was no problem finding it. She tiredly stepped through the archway of the room and carefully took off her helmet, holding it underneath her arm as she walked towards the tables in the front of the room, where troopers were free to choose what they wanted. It was a luxury only the Eviscerator could afford and there were many cafeterias. At the moment they had three trooper cafeterias, all well placed around the lower parts of the ship, as well as an officer’s cafeteria, although many of the stormtrooper officers, like EV and BN, preferred to dine with their troops instead of with the officers. 

EV found herself picking out many different meats and she couldn’t complain, because at this point, her stomach had overpowered her brain. By the end of her time browsing, she had picked out two plates worth of meat and found herself balancing both on one of her arms, her other arm occupied with holding her helmet. She looked around the room and found herself looking at one of the squadrons that was seated, which was made up of five of her friends. She smiled and walked towards them, careful not to drop her meal. 

“Hey Aqua!” called out EV to the lieutenant of the squadron as she neared the table they were seated at. 

“No formalities, Evie?” asked Aqua jokingly as EV sat down in the seat besides her, gently laying her food on the table and putting her helmet on her lap. 

“No way! I know you five too well to use formalities! How are you all doing after coming off of your first shift? Anything exciting happen?” Replied EV, adding in her own question.

“Nothing exciting ever happens on shift, you know that!” Said Nox, helmet on and his plate empty while he leaned back in a relaxed position in his seat.

“You’re such an idiot, Nox! It was just a courtesy question.” Said Lith, lifting her hand and swatting his arm with it. 

Meanwhile Crow seemed to be staring at EV’s plate, eying it with a frown on her face, “You have to have a healthy balance, Evie, not just the meat. You have to get all your nutrients in, not just your protein. Where’s the bread? Where are the fruits and vegetables?” 

“Hey I wasn’t feeling too hungry today, Crow. I just got whatever my stomach chose!” exclaimed Evie, laughing happily.

“Evie..” Started Uncanny, her face showing nothing but disapproval, “Crow is completely right! You need variety, not just meat! But it’s so like you to just get the meat. Why do I even bother?” She raised her hand to her forehead and began to massage it, something she usually did when she was agitated. 

EV rolled her eyes, “Come on it isn’t that bad!” Exclaimed EV rolling her eyes at them.

“Yes it is, Evie. You know we can’t take care of you forever. Sometime you have to learn how to take care of yourself.” Stated Lith, staring her down from across the table. 

“Oh she’ll be fine,” began Aqua, “and if she isn’t I can always beat it into her in a sparring match.” 

EV froze at that. Sparring against Aqua was not something she wanted to try. She didn’t have a death wish. “I think that I’ll… have a balanced meal next time.” Said EV, grinning at her friends. This was good for her, to be with her friends, especially after speaking to Connall. She wished moments like this could last forever… how false that would turn out to be..

It was only once she was done with her meal and getting ready to leave that EV realized that she had never gotten that drink that she so dearly had wanted.


	5. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T'rien goes for a walk with Nia, only to be interrupted by a serious conflict! Will T'rien be able to immerge unscathed from the fire with the rest of her order, or will they burn in the ashes?

35ABY  
Outer Rim  
Rseik Sector: Vestar - Port Esta, New Force Order headquarters

T’rien groggily sat up on her cot, rubbing her eyes slowly as she opened them to the light of a new day. She yawned widely, arms spread outwards and body shaking in relief as she slid off the cot. She stood there for a second, forgetting what was going on in her half-asleep state. She stood there for a few minutes before fully getting up and changing into her grey-black robes. She smoothened down the wrinkles in it and tied sashes around her waist and her wrists. Once she was finished, she attached her lightsaber to her wait sash and hooked it into place, careful to make sure it wouldn’t interfere with the rest of her robes. She then proceeded to sit down once again on her cot and style her hair into two tight braids that fell down her back. She allowed her hands to fall to her side and, taking a deep breath, she stepped forwards and out of her room, hearing the slight sound of the door sliding shut behind her. 

T’rien yawned and began to walk down the brightly lit hallway of the base, her intent solely being on going for an early morning stroll. She was hoping that she could actually get around to going for a walk, instead of the previous times where she had been held up by members of her Order asking for advice or for help. It was annoying, but she had to deal with it. Most of the time it was just combat related questions, so she was planning on steering clear of the training yard. It was surprisingly quiet and she was a bit perplexed, but she still headed towards the end of the hallway where the doors to the outside were.

T’rien neared the doors and they slid open to greet her. Where T’rien had expected the star that Vestar orbited, all she found was the dark night sky, full of stars. She silently swore. If it was morning, that meant that it was very, very early, which would mean that she hadn’t slept enough. She dreaded it because she was going to be tired all day which would damage her schedule. Waking up this early though was only good because it would allow her to take a nice, long, well-needed walk around Port-Esta. Walking always helped to make her feel better, and it gave her time to think instead of being bombarded by questions as she usually was. 

T’rien heard a low sound from somewhere behind her and she swiveled around to find Nia watching her from a few meters away, obviously having been standing there for more than a little while. 

“What are you doing out here, T’rien?” asked Nia, her voice sounding more than a little usspicious at T’rien’s behaviour. 

T’rien’s eye’s darted to the side and back, looking for a way out of this situation. After finding none she sighed and looked at Nia. “I was just going to head out for a walk before the day starts up at it’s regular pace.”

Nia regarded her for a little bit longer, slightly tilting her head to the side curiously at T’rien’s response. She seemed to accept the fact when she nodded, thus T’rien sighed in relief. 

She began to turn back to exit and begin her walk, but Nia’s spoke up. When T’rien turned back around hse found that Nia had her hand raised in her direction. “I wasn’t finished,” stated Nia plainly, letting her hand fall to her side. “I was going to say that I will accompany you on your walk. I’ve been looking to get some quiet time as well, just like you.” When T’rien looked closer at Nia, whom she’d never been too close with, she found that Nia seemed to be very quiet with her words, almost embarrassed. T’rien was surprised as she had never really seen Nia quite like that before. She supposed it could just be how Nia acted when she wasn’t around groups of people and was only with one person. It’s not like that mattered anyways as T’rien would love to get to know Nia better, though she found it odd that she had never really tried to talk to Nia one-on-one with each other as they were doing now. 

“Fine..” said T’rien, sighing, “you can come with me for a walk. It’s not like I’m going to pass this opportunity up because somebody wants to come with me. It might be better with company this early anyways.” With that T’rien began to walk out outside of the base with Nia following closely behind. 

The pair walked for some twenty minutes and just as they were nearing the outskirts of the city, Nia asked a question. “Empress,” asked Nia, taking on a slightly cautious tone that T’rien noticed, “what is your plan to take down the First Order?”

T’rien was blindsided by the question. Of course she had thought about it, but now that it was coming down to it, she was at a loss of words. She didn’t have too much of an overall plan that was set in stone as many things could change about their current situation, especially the fact of the First Order possibly tracking them to Vestar. If the base on Vestar was destroyed, she supposed, just as they had done in the past, that she would move the Order again, but at the moment, the First Order had the beginnings of a scent, having only been outward with them once when they destroyed the base on Eriadu. She prayed that their base on Vestar wouldn’t be discovered though because of the relationships and roots that had been planted here. The addition of the High Angel’s to their small pile of Allies was a main factor in her reasoning. 

“I’m not entirely sure, Nia.” answered T’rien honestly, “There are a great deal of things that can happen. I suppose, especially in our current situation, it might be best to launch some sort of counter attack at them as retaliation for what happened on Eriadu. We understand that they are targeting us now so it won’t be long before they start deploying more troopers to different planets to find out just how far our sphere of influence spreads. We’re an even bigger threat now though because we became allies with the High Angel’s. While they have increased our strength, they have also increased how easy it will be for us. At this rate we won’t be able to hide in the shadows much longer. It’s troubling but true. Once we gain more of a following we’ll be able to publicly stand against the First Order. At this point though they definitely see us as a threat, even if it is only a very slight one. There are a few other things I’m worried about too. We don’t stand much chance in Naval battles with starships so if we were to engage, it would have to be on the surface of a planet. Us especially are much better suited for ground warfare as we don’t really use ranged weapons. We should also discuss the idea of a symbol to recognize each other by, especially for covert and spy operations. What do you think about a symbol we all use to identify each other, Nia?”

Nia tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips. “We definitely need a symbol that won’t stand out too much, but will still be recognizable. We should also try to make it as simple as possible. Then there’s the issue of a universal symbol for us and our allies so we can unite under a single banner instead of separate factions. I’m not sure if the High Angel’s already have an insignia but we should definitely ask Fovius and Obeali sooner or later. I’m almost positive other, smaller, groups will want to join up with us, sort of like how the Rebellion worked. And if we’d like to further it we should make a standard uniform, or at least a standard uniform color for all of us, especially for battle. There’s the issue of funding of all this as well because so far most of our income has been coming from salvaging missions and not from donations. We want people and governments to side with us in order to be able to make our dream of taking the First Order down a reality. If we were to go with a color I think a dark orange would be very good, or a dark green color. We want something that can be used efficiently in a battle situation but still be recognizable by strangers and different individuals. We want people to know who we are, and we can’t do that if we don’t seem to have something distinct between all of us.”

T’rien nodded and continued walking towards the city with Nia just besides her. “I’m much more worried about casualties in the future though. That’s the place that the First Order outnumbers us most. If we had a full on assault on a level playing field with each other they would surely win. We have maybe a thousand fighters total and they have hundreds of thousands of fully equipped stormtroopers and thousands of ships to take us down with. That’s another thing; our naval strength. While we surely aren’t lacking in that area, if we were to go up against, say, a Resurgence class star-destroyer, we’d most likely not come out without heavy losses. Last year the Resistance took down a proper First Order Super Star Destroyer and they suffered tremendous losses. They even had proper bombers; but did it matter? No. No it didn’t. And from that point, with their fleet greatly weakened, they fled to Crait. They only survived because some untrained Force Sensitive helped them lift a few rocks. Their fleet was long since decimated and they escaped on a single ship. We don’t want that to be us. Any move of aggression we make in space must be carefully planned and thought out. We can’t risk losing our ships because it took us quite some time to get them all. If we are to suffer the same losses that the Resistance did before the Battle of Crait, we’d have no chance of recovery. Then again, the First Order underestimated them and when the Resistance had already done quite some damage to them, with Takodana and other battles having gone successfully. How many times have we actually won against them? How many losses have we suffered because of them?”

“Too many..” whispered Nia, looking down at her feet. 

“Exactly. And we will avenge their deaths tenfold. I vow on the name of Connall, who died at Eriadu, that we, the New Force Order, will be the undoing of the First Order. I will do whatever it takes to see our dream of a better future, one free of tyranny and oppression. When the First Order attacks us next, we will be ready, and we will not lose again as we did on Eriadu.”

“Is that why we introduced the new hologram contact system, T’rien? Was it so that we could be alerted about threats at our other bases?” Asked Nia, her tone one of questioning.

"Yes that was what gave me the idea. We don't want any other incidents like that to happen. If the First Order attacks us again we will fight back against them and we will not be defeated." Answered T'rien, smiling at the thought of beating the First Order.

Nia nodded her head at that. "I figured that was why. Have you found any other possible allies for the Order?" 

T'rien turned her head to face Nia, looking away from the city, "I found a few that share the same goal as us, all are very small though. It's more likely they will be assimilated into either the New Force Order or the High Angel's. I don't think we will find any other groups as large as us interested in being allies in the Outer Rim at least. We have the most influence here on Vestar and the High Angel's core base is on Rakata Prime. They aren't very populated world's so it isn't surprising that we haven't found anyone. Eriadu is very populated, as would be expected of a world near the center but we no longer have a hold there. Askaj is… Askaj, Utapau is a good place to spread our hold, but it's crawling with the First Order. I wish Vestar was better known and that more people came to us. It would be much easier to spread news about our Order if we were closer to the core world's instead of on the edge of the known galaxy. Then again, Vestar is good because we can remain hidden very well and it's unlikely the First Order would ever look here while hunting us."

Nia laughed, “Vestar sure does have its ups and downs. Do you think that us allying with the High Angel’s was a good idea?”

T’rien thought for a second before responding to Nia, “I do think that I made the correct decision in that case and I’m pretty sure that we have both benefited from it thus far. It's also a mutually beneficial relationship as we each bring something the other needs. We have the strength that they lack and they have the funds that we lack.”

T’rien sat down on the grass and looked towards the city, smiling slightly. Nia also sat down at her side and they sat in silence for a while. Just admiring the setting. A slight beeping sound started to emit from T’rien’s robe and she reached into pull out the holographic projector, sighing. When she pressed the button to turn it on, Daran flickered to life with Vartil besides him.

T’rien’s brow furrowed in confusion and worry, “What’s wrong?” she asked cautiously, prepared for the worst. 

The pair looked between each other before Daran spoke, “Our base on Utapau is under attack, Empress.”

T’rien froze before scowling, “Shit!” she yelled, causing Nia to turn around from where she was sitting. 

“Call Fovius and ask for his assistance. Prepare our troops for travel then embankment onto Utapau. Make sure that an ample amount of troops are left to defend Vestar. We don’t want them to somehow find our base unattended while we fight them at Utapau. Do you know what’s attacking the base? Like what has the First Order deployed to fight us?”

Daran shifted uncomfortably in the hologram, “Well they brought a Star Destroyer as well as ten troop carriers. We have already confirmed the presence of an elite squad of troopers, led by the one dubbed as ‘The Forcekiller.’ We believe that the Star Destroyer positioned at Utapau right now is the one that has been hunting us, the Eviscerator. We believe they have at least a few hundred stormtroopers ready to fight us as well as an arsenal of TIEs.”

T’rien paused for a moment, “How many operatives do we have positioned at Utapau that are ready to fight? Also, has the attack actually begun, or is the First Order looking where they think our base is?”

Vartil spoke this time, wincing at what was about to be said, “We only have about twenty troops stationed at Utapau, all battle ready. The First Order hasn’t found the exact location, but they are not far from it. I’d estimate that they’ll find the base in a day at the very latest. It will also take us about a day to get there, so it will be a very tight time frame that we have to make. Our ship transports are already prepared to fly and the courses have been set. We’re just waiting for you two to come back and confirm the mission, as well as wait on Fovius’ response to this.”

T’rien swore, “Thank you both. We’ll be there as quickly as possible.” She pressed a button on the holographic communicator and watched as both Daran and Vartil fizzled out. T’rien looked to Nia who was watching her intently. The base was maybe five minutes from where they were right then, so they could get there quite easily if they ran.

“Let’s go.” said T’rien, getting up and beginning to lightly jog in the direction of their base before making her way into a flat out sprint, Nia following her example.

Once the pair arrived back at the New Force Order headquarters, T’rien wasn’t surprised at all to see it in chaos. The hangar doors were wide open and T’rien could see her forces rushing around to get into their ships. She could already hear the light hum of the ship engines as they were started. The two quickly walked through the hangar and into the main base towards the communications center. Upon arrival, T’rien was hit by many loud voices, mainly Amia’s, which was heard over them all. 

T’rien had to shout practically into Amia’s ear to even get her attention. Instantly, Amia turned to her and saluted her, standing straight with her legs together. “What are your orders for the rest of the bases, Empress?”

T’rien hardly had to think at all, “Tell them to stand their hands where they currently are and to prepare for the worst. Have we made contact with the High Angel’s yet, or are they unresponsive?” 

“They have indeed made contact with us and Fovius is awaiting your approval and orders upon his actions in the first holographic communicator. Shall I do it publicly here or will you take it privately?” replied Amia with both an answer and a question of her own.

“Here will be fine, thank you. Before that though, have you issued comm silence orders to the Utapau base, with contact only in case of emergency?” 

“I have indeed. Xerus, the base commander, will only contact us in the case of a proceeding attack. I imagine Fovius is getting impatient waiting though, thus we should proceed with calling him up, as was requested.”

At T’rien’s nod, Amia pressed a button at the console where she stood to activate the communication device. On a small projector in front of the triad appeared Fovius and a few others in the main operations room of the High Angel’s base. They appeared to be conversing rapidly with each other, and T’rien could see Obeali in the frame as well. Fovius looked up at them as soon as he lifted his head, a concerned look in his eyes. 

“Your High Council members have informed me that you plan to move forward to engage the First Order on Utapau as your base is on the verge of being discovered. I am prepared to help you, but I must know the plan before I deploy my troops towards this mission. I am ready to deploy our entire fleet, as I imagine you are doing the same. I would also like to let you know that we received word shortly after I was informed about the potential attack on your base that the Star Destroyer, Eviscerator, has a specific member of your Order prisoner on it. If I remember correctly, this person is known as Connall and was believed to be one of the casualties that you suffered there. If we intend to attempt to rescue him, as well as recover the members of your Order stationed at the base, then we may have to split into two separate groups to be able to attempt both missions.” Said Fovius, a serious expression on his features.

The Force Sensitive triad all had shocked expressions on their faces as the three looked back at Fovius. “Is the source that informed you of his whereabouts trustworthy, Fovius? I don’t want to risk any troops on a simple possibility.”

Fovius stared T’rien dead in the eyes, “I would trust the source that gave me this information with my life.” 

T’rien nodded, “That’s good enough for me.” She could feel a little spark of what she believed to be hope rising in her chest. Could it really be true that Connall is alive..? “As for the course of action, we plan to rendezvous with our ship carriers in the space above this planet to make preparations for a hyperspace jump to Utapau. I would like you and the rest of your order to rendezvous there with us in approximately an hour before we make the day-long hyperspace journey to get to Utapau. If that’s all fine with you, I’d like to log off now to give further direction to my troops as this will be one of our first operations altogether as one.”

“I hope to see you at the rendezvous point soon. I suppose it will be just above Port Esta, right?” Asked Fovius, a neutral expression displayed on him.

At T’rien’s nod, he flickered out and the three were left to look at each other, voices in the communications center rising up once again. “I believe Daran and Vartil wanted to speak with you as well, Empress. They were just finishing up instructing the troops that will remain here on Vestar about the protocols and then were going to head to the hangar. That’s where they should be now. I wish you well, Empress.” Amia informed T’rien, seeming to be a tad distracted.

“You as well, Amia.” T’rien then turned, Nia just beside her, and strode out of the communications center towards the hangar. Daran and vartil both came into sight quickly and the four reached each other in seconds. 

“Has everything been done, Empress? Are we forward with the operation?” asked Vartil, looking to T’rien for confirmation. 

“Yes but there has been a slight change in plans,” T’rien took a deep breath, “Connall is alive.”

The reaction of the pair was almost the same, if not identical to the one that T’rien, Amia, and Nia had had just a few minutes prior. Daran actually clutched his head and then looked back up at her. “That means we’ll need to perform two separate operations, then. One to save Connall, and one to transport the Order members stationed on Utapau. I hope we’ll be able to do both successfully. I suppose we should all get to our ships now and prepare to meet Fovius’ group. I assume we’ll be following the Nomad as our flagship to the intercept point with Fovius?” 

T’rien nodded and him and the four all went separate ways towards their own ships. T’rien was heading towards her Delta-7, praying to whatever god that may be out there that everything would go well.


End file.
